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Anything automotive may appear here - new car reviews, car shows, editorials on automotive items, working on my cars, just about any automotive topic I want to write about. Your comments are always welcome. I encourage reprinting of my articles providing proper attribution is given and notification is provided.

One of the world’s finest
examples of Duesenberg’s fabled J-Series, a 1935 SJ Convertible Coupe – one of
only three built and the only one equipped with the then-offered optional 320
hp supercharged engine – makes a special appearance showing at the Hillsborough
Concours d’Elegance, Sunday, July 21, on the fairways of the Crystal Springs
Golf Course, Burlingame, CA.

The
SJ, which is on loan from San Francisco’s Academy of Art University, was built
as the firm neared the end of its
production in 1940. The J-Series had been
launched in 1928 and the 472 J-chassis built in that line have been
recognized as possibly among the greatest cars ever built.

Work on this
sleek SJ, which won first in class at Pebble Beach in 1998, was begun by
Duesenberg’sJ. Herbert Newport who
called in noted designer Alex Tremulis to capture more dynamic styling motifs
emerging in the ‘30s. It is more streamlined than its predecessors, sports
rounded fenders, a lower profile accentuated by 17-inch tires, a curved
beltline and swept molding spears. The crank-operated “semi-automatic top”
folds up under a flush-fitting lid.

Bodywork
was by Walker-LaGrande of Indianapolis. Throughout their lives,J-Series Duesenbergs were assigned to varying
coachbuilders, including Murphy, Derham, Bohman and Schwartz, Rollston and
LeBaron.

Beginning
with the 1913 Indy 500, brothers Fred and August Deusenbergbuilt race cars that had reputations for
speed and reliability. Former San Francisco resident Peter DePaolo won with
Duesenberg at Indy in 1925, first car to average over 100 mph on the circuit –
and a record that held up for seven years. In 1921, another San Franciscan,
Jimmy Murphy, had beat Europe’s best at LeMans in a Duesenberg.

In
the mid-‘20s, entrepreneur –super salesman E. L. Cord, a man who already had
experience in the car game, bought the Duesenberg company,coined a sales slogan, “It’s a Duesie,” and
challenged the brothers to build a large, sleek, powerful car.

Large
and powerful they were: “short” wheelbase versions ran 142 ½” and “long” was
153 ½”, they weighed in at more than 4500 lbs, the 420 cu. in. DOHC engines
(with four valves per cylinder) produced 265 hp and the cars could run at over
120 mph.

Duesenbergs
were the clear favorites of American movie royalty and titans of

Featured
marque at this year’s Hillsborough event is Aston Martin. There is a showing of
Zagato-bodied cars, showroom 1957 models, Porsche 911s, vintage British
motorcycles and a panorama of Chevrolet Corvettes showing the 60-year evolution
of the all American sports car. Charity beneficiaries of the Hillsborough event
are Autism Speaks, North America’s largest autism science and advisory
organization, the 49ers Foundation, which provides extensive support for
at-risk youth in the Bay Area and the Hillsborough Schools Foundation, which
provides support for four public schools in Hillsborough.

I have been writing car reviews since 1984. I am a Certified Automotive Technician although I no longer ply that trade. I worked for twenty years for the California Department of Consumer Affairs & Bureau of Automotive Repair. I sat on three legislative advisory committees. I wrote an automotive column for the Tracy Press, and before that the Pacifica Tribune. I was a member of the Automotive Journalists Association of Canada and am a member of the Western Automotive Journalists.